YouBike, a Taiwan-based bicycle sharing program that first began in March 2008, has been gaining traction as a public transportation system in major cities including Taipei.
On the 18th, patrol police found a YouBike in front of Taoyuan's giant egg athletic arena. On the front of the bike hung a bag of what seemed to be stolen goods. The police reported that a homeless man named Mr. Zhang, didn't have enough money to go back to Da Xi from Taipei, so when he noticed an unlocked YouBike at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall he decided to take it home.
Two hours and 27 km later he fell asleep on the side of the road in Taoyuan City. The man told the police that he had borrowed the bike from a friend. When police asked him who his friend was he coughed up "the Taipei city government." He was soon taken into custody. The bike was returned to the Taipei city government who said that they would not limit the distance traveled on the bicycles but did say that if there was any damage to it, said damage would have to be compensated for.
The Department of Transporation in the Taipei City Government launched the bike sharing system after the European cities like Paris and London.
According to the Commissioner of Department of Transportation in Taipei City, Jason Tse-Ying Lin, the promotion for YouBike use in the city has began since 1998.